Barefoot Roadside Casting Aluminum Pots in Vietnam

Discussion in 'Sand Casting' started by Melterskelter, Jun 24, 2019.

  1. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    Came across this video today. I hope this has not made the rounds three times before. I thought it was very interesting. No wasted motion. The absolute minimum equipment. No parting compound in sight, no thermocouples, no fancy lifting equipment. He just keeps on churning out pots that are well suited for the intended use.

    Rather clever was his method for molding the loop handle on the pot lid at around 23 mins. Looks like he was using maybe charcoal for heat in an earthen dugout oven. Must have had some either passive air draft or perhaps an electric blower for combustion air. He was melting any metallic object light in color and lightweight.

    He has my admiration, that I can say...



    Denis
     
  2. Quick!! Somebody tell him he can't make a sprue like that and get a good casting.

    The Nigerian pot maker does some excellent repairs of cold shuts in his pots. Another good video.

    And don't stir the crucible!!

    Send him a copy of The Complete Casting Handbook.:rolleyes:
     
  3. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    Ya, I hope Puhakka goes on Vacation to that village and comes upon this pathetic, crude, backward operation and then proceeds to “educate” him to the 10 (commandments) I mean rules! Not actually intending to put Puhakka down any more than he should attempt to denigrate this guy. Both have worked to come up with a workable system to solve the problem in front of them. And both have succeeded.

    I think they both can teach us something. The Vietnamese guy demonstrated he could facilely mold a pot while having a conversation and surveying the local comings and goings of his neighbors.

    Denis
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2019
  4. I think the Vietnamese guy has done that before.
     
  5. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    One other clever pouring maneuver was the caster stands with left foot on the cope of the big pot with his foot holding the cope down while his assistant pushes down from the other side with a stick. No wasted motion placing weights and lifting them off.

    Denis
     
  6. I noticed that too, but thought they just didn't have weights. Speed may be the origin though.
     
  7. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Did you see the comments to that video? I raised the BS flag on this one..... There is NO WAY he gets $300 for one of those pots. 300,000 DingDongers, I can believe.. That would be $13.
    He does have some mad casting skills, I'll say that for him. Imagine how scary that would be only feet away from truck, moped and idiots riding god knows what!:eek:

    [​IMG]
    worldtraveler
    10 months ago
    What's the street price for one of these big cooking pots? just curious.. Thanks!

    [​IMG]
    Vietnam Village
    10 months ago
    Price for a large pot about $ 300 you offline



    [​IMG]
    worldtraveler
    10 months ago (edited)
    WOW... 300US for this pot is a bit on the high side! I was guessing a 100bucks. If he can make one pot in less than an hr and lets say he makes 20 pots in a week, He should be bringing in 6 GRAND a week! If he was making that kind of dough there, I bet he wouldn't be making these on the side of the road without shoes on. I seriously doubt he is making that kind of money. If he is, I'm moving to the dirt pile next to him.


    [​IMG]
    Vietnam Village
    10 months ago
    He is not fixed here, but moves constantly, moving more than 10 days to another place
     
  8. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    There you go then, that $6k gets eaten up by moving expenses.

    Jeff
     
  9. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    Nah, I wasn’t interested in any BS/negative aspects of the posting. Just trying to extract the useful stuff and enjoy the skill and industry shown by the caster. I’d love to be able to have a conversation with him and learn some of what he knows about using the tools he finds and has at hand to cast something I’d be proud to be able to do myself.

    Denis
     
  10. Jason: He didn't answer what a local had to pay, just what they thought you might pay. Elsewhere he says $20 per person per day, and $7 to $45 for his pots.
     
  11. ESC

    ESC Silver Banner Member

    My take:
    It looks like excellent naturally bonded sand.
    The knife gate/sprue may control the speed of the fill.
    He does a very quick pour, about a 3 to 4 seconds, while maintaining a full sprue. And then he hesitates at the end to top off the sprue to avoid shrinkage at the gate.
     
  12. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    How does he get away with no part compound or dry sand to separate cope and drag? Maybe he is using something. But I don’t see it.

    Denis
     
  13. ESC

    ESC Silver Banner Member

    At about 24:00 when he lifts the lid cope, there is a little that sticks to the drag, but he just leaves it. Other than that he's good, or just lucky. I can't see a camera break when he cleans the drag with the pattern in place and sets the cope on it, so no, I don't see parting compound either.
     
  14. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    What do you suppose the chances are that empty green and white bag close to the molding area was Bentonite for livestock? Just looks/behaves too well to be hey, I'll dig this out of the ground to cast with. Not sure I buy he moves every 10 days either. He does wip out an electric grinder and has an electric fan in operation.

    All that said, he gets a great result in short time, melting what looks to be about anything for casting stock, a charcoal fired Earthen a fire pit for a furnace, a steel bowl for a ladle, and steel bucket for a crucible.

    I was wondering how long/many attempts it would take me to duplicate the results.....think I'll stick with my shtick.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  15. YakTriangle

    YakTriangle Copper

    Wow, that was fascinating to watch. I loved the way he made the mould for the lid handle too ... he made that look easy.

    Thanks for sharing.
     
  16. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    I'm definitely thinking he is using bentonite or equivalent. And, good chance he rounds up some pretty good sand as well. But, the ease with which he makes a pretty tough casting is impressive. I noticed the stuck sand mentioned above. Like any skilled foundryman, he trowels the damage area a bit so that the there is a good chance none of us could find that spot on the cast pot.

    Denis
     
  17. Petee716

    Petee716 Gold Banner Member

    They use a similar gate here
     
  18. ESC

    ESC Silver Banner Member

    I remember HT1 's story of the ensign that came into his on board foundry and told them to get rid of all the dirt.
    The world is covered with naturally bonded sands and from what I have gathered no one was using synthetic sands until around WWII. The New York Albany sand replaced French Sand during WWI, and according to CW Amen Alabama is covered with good molding sand. I have poured trinkets with sand dug from a ditch bank in the hills of Arkansas and when I spent a weekend at Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek, they went out the back and dug up the clay to make the bod for the Cupola plug. In Petee's video the sand looks the same as the Vietnamese's but I doubt he made it either. The same with the Nigerian pot maker, beautiful sand, but I doubt it is synthetic.
     
  19. I was wondering whether those were natural sands. I reread CW Ammen's' book regularly. You've inspired me to dig up some sand out of a sand bank on my creek which may prove to be naturally bonded. We have lots of clay around. I do pottery with clay out of that creek.
     
  20. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Natural or synthetic, it sure seem to wok well and although they were working it with the shovel between molds, you sure couldn't call that a high shear mulling and it still looked to form nicely under his blade.

    Best,
    Kelly
     

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